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Infographic showing how the Europa Clipper will characterize many features of the icy moon orbiting Jupiter to determine whether or not it offers a good place to search for life.
Infographic: Exploring Habitability on Europa
Europa Clipper will characterize many features of the icy moon orbiting Jupiter to determine whether or not it offers a good place to search for life.
Infographic: Exploring Habitability on Europa
Infographic: Exploring Habitability on Europa

Europa Clipper will characterize many features of the icy moon orbiting Jupiter to determine whether or not it offers a good place to search for life.

Europa Clipper will characterize many features of the icy moon orbiting Jupiter to determine whether or not it offers a good place to search for life.

hydrothermal vents

A hydrothermal vent spewing hot, mineral-rich fluid
Hydrogen Fueled Life’s Origins: Study
Sophie Fessl, PhD | Dec 15, 2021 | 4 min read
A thermodynamic analysis of more than 400 chemical reactions that likely took place in the ancestor of all life finds most would spontaneously occur at hydrothermal vents, thanks to the hydrogen these geological formations emit.
microscope image of methaotrophs with black specks
Deep Sea Microbes Produce Graphite-like Carbon
Chloe Tenn | Nov 11, 2021 | 2 min read
The first evidence of biologically produced elemental carbon inspires more questions than answers.  
Microbial Fossils Found in 3.4-Billion-Year-Old Subseafloor Rock
Ruth Williams | Jul 14, 2021 | 3 min read
The material, now part of an African mountain range, bolsters the idea that hydrothermal veins supported early forms of life.
Deep Diver: A Profile of Cindy Van Dover
Anna Azvolinsky | Jul 1, 2018 | 8 min read
As the only woman who has piloted the deep-ocean research submersible Alvin, Van Dover is among the few researchers to have explored hydrothermal vents firsthand.
Sold on Symbiosis
Anna Azvolinsky | Jul 1, 2015 | 9 min read
A love of the ocean lured Nicole Dubilier into science; gutless sea worms and their nurturing bacterial symbionts keep her at the leading edge of marine microbiology.
Gutless Worm
The Scientist | Jun 30, 2015 | 1 min read
Meet the digestive tract–lacking oligochaete that has fueled Max Planck researcher Nicole Dubilier’s interest in symbiosis and marine science.
Extreme Living
Jeffrey Marlow and Jan Amend | Jan 31, 2015 | 1 min read
Take a tour of deep-sea methane seeps and meet the organisms that call these extreme environments home.
Antarctic Lake Teems With Life
Chris Palmer | Jul 8, 2013 | 2 min read
DNA and RNA sequences from Lake Vostok below the Antarctic glacier reveal thousands of bacteria species, including some commonly found in fish digestive systems.
Life on the Ocean Floor, 1977
Cristina Luiggi | Sep 1, 2012 | 2 min read
The discovery of deep-sea hydrothermal vents along the Galápagos Rift revealed a biological Garden of Eden.
Bottom Dwellers
Cristina Luiggi | Sep 1, 2012 | 1 min read
See some of the images brought up from early trips to the Galápagos Rift, where an ecosystem thrives around hydrothermal vents.
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